Cream cheese manufacture



Oct. 23, 1945. o. J. LINK CREAM CHEESE MANUFACTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 8, 1942 Cream Mix from Pasew-zer Oct. 23, 1945. o. J. LlNK 2,387,276

CREAM CHEESE MANUFACTURE Filed Oct. 8, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 23, 1945 CREAM CHEESE MANUFACTURE Oscar J. Link, Beaver Dam, Wis., assigner to Kraft Cheese Company, a corporation of Dela- Application October 8, 1942, Serial No. 461,348

` more aseptic conditions than in the case of prior 3 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in cream cheese manufacture and relates to an improvement in that part of the procedure which follows the making of the ripened mix and includes the draining of the whey from the ripened mix and the packaging of the solid cheese.

According to the most generally accepted 1:10-V cedure in the manufacture of cream cheese, it is customary to add to sweet cream as the principal base suicient sweet milk or skim milk, as the case may be, to make a mix of the desired butter fat content, for example from 7% butter fat to as much a's 20% of butter fat, depending upon the richness which is desired in the final product.

It is also the general practice to pasteurize the mix after which it is homogenized andcooled to the setting temperature, usually between 62 F. and 80 F. To the cooled mix, there is added a lactic acid starter or other suitable culture which will develop the correct iiavor and acidity, and the mix is held at the settingr temperature for a suilicient length of time, say from eight to eighteen hours, until sufficient acidity has developed in the whey. For example, a whey acidity of 0.7 to 0.9% is frequently found to exist when the batch has reached a condition where separation takes place between the curd and the whey and where the proper flavorl has been developed. In this condition, the mix may be said to be properly ripened.

According to the old` practice, the mix is then introduced into filter bags which are placed in a medium of relatively low temperature, slightly above the freezing point, and the whey is permitted to drain through the bags by gravity. Usuallyvabout vtwenty-four hours is required for the draining operation, before the cheese has lost sufmethods. Further objects of the invention are to provide an economical and eilicient method of manufacturing cream cheese, and tol obtain a more palatable, sterile and less perishable prodsuccessfully used incarrying out theimproved ilcient whey to meet the desired standards, which,

for ordinary cream cheese, are inexcess of 33% milk fat and less than 55 moisture. y

Having arrived at the desired moisture per cent I condition, the cheese is usually packaged by cnclosing same in suitable Wrappers or containers. The usual run of cream cheese prepared accord ing to these conditions, if kept under proper conditions as to temperature, will maintain its ilavor and freshness for about ten days.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide a method of curd draining and packaging which can be carried out as a continuous operation and which will practically eliminate the long-drawn-out twenty-four hour draining step employed in the old filter bag method and vwhich will enable the cheese to be packaged in a relatively much morel sterile condition and under procedure: Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a piece of equipment by which the separating is effected;

Fig, 1 is an enlarged section'taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; v

Fig. v4 is an enlarged section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

According to' the improved procedure, ripened mix prepared according to the old and accepted methods used in the manufacture oi?l cream cheese, and as I have described it above, is heated to a suilicient temperature and for a suflicient length A of time to bring about a condition at which separation can be readily eiected when the material is mechanically treated in the proper equipment. This temperature may be as high as 170 F., it being understood that any temperature which doesnot materially affect the ilavo'r or other characteristics of the product may be used, or it can be as low as about F. In any case, the temperature used should be high enough to break the viscosity of the mix. It is also advisable to arrange matters so that the material is heated sutilciently, so that the heat treatment of the cheese will be effective not only to fit the material for mechanical separation, but will also serve in effeet to pasteurize the product.

In order to obtain .the benefit of the -heat treatment, the material is treated in a special mechanical separator while still in a heated condition, and, after sufficient whey has been removed, the product is immediately packaged while still kept at an elevated temperature. In thisway. the packages are rendered sterile by the heat of the material which is placed therein, and, if the packages are clcsed or sealed while at that elevated temperature, there will be virtually no l frame element or housing II.

opportunity forl deleterious organisms to contaminate the product prior izo-shipment.

Although other means of mechanical separation, and although other types of apparatus perhaps may be employed, I have obtained excellent results by the use of a continual mechanical separator such as is disclosed in the drawings. This apparatus is a `well-known make of mechanical cream separator of the centrifugal type, which has been modied to adapt it for separating a relatively solid material such as cream cheese instead of iiquid-cream.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the machine is equipped with the usual standard or legs I upon which there is carried the main The machine is operated by a suitable fractional horse power motor I2 which, by means of a pulley I3 and V- pulley I4, drives a pulley I5 fixed on a countershaft I6. Counter-shaft I6 is mounted in suitable spaced horizontal bearings not shown, and on said shaft there is .also keyed a worm wheel l1 the teeth I3 of which mesh with the threads of a multi-thread screw or worm i9 which is drivingly mounted on the axially vertical spinner shaft 2U. The spinner shaft 20 is rotatably mounted in suitable high-speed ball bearings 2l and 22 carried in suitable pockets of the mainl housing II, and extends upwardly above bearing 22 into the spinner chamber 23 of the separator. The upper end of the spinner shaft 2D, as shown best in Fig. 2, is made with a 'transverse slot or key-way 24 large enough to receive the diameter of the driving pin 25 of the spinner.

The spinner is composed 0f inner and outer principal elements, both generally conical in shape. The inner spinner element 25 comprises an inverted cone of sheet metal 21 the upper end of which is integrally joined to a quill 28 having a lower extension 29 which extends down 'over and rits the spinner shaft 20. In said upper extension 29, there is secured the diametrlc driving pin 25 previously referred to.

The upper end of the quill 28 is made with a series of three circumferentially spaced slots, for example 30, which serve as openings into the downwardly extending inclined ducts 3i. The

an inner shield part 44 which takes the form of a, cone following down the inside of the cone 39 and spaced therefrom as indicated at 45 in order to form a passageway for the whey as it is forced 'upwardly by the centrifugal action. Said spacing 'of the outer coney 9 on the inner conical shield 44 is maintained lby upper and lower sets of spacer blocks or discs 46 and 41 distributed around the periphery of the spinner. Also, in order to retard the upwardv now of the lighter material along and up the inside surface of the conical shield 44, it is advisable to use a mild baffling means which, in the present case, takes the form of a lower circumferential flanged angle piece 48, and, if desired, another similar somewhat smaller angle piece 49 can be located higher up on the inside of the shield.

'I'he upper end of the outer spinner 39 is held in central position by a ring or disc 50 the inner diameter of which lits the outer diameter of the quill 28 while the outer edgeof said ring 50 is made with a rabbet to snugly receive the upper end of the cylindrical extension 4I. The entire assemblage is clamped together by a ring nut 5I which is threaded onto the upper end of the quill 28, as shown at 52. Means must be provided to permit escape of the whey which by the centrifugal action is forced up the spinner through the space 45 between the outer conical section 39 and the inner conical shield 44. In the present instance, such whey is permitted to escape through a pair of openings one of which is provided with an adjustment.

As shown best in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4, there are a pair of holes 53 and 54 drilled upwardly into y the connector ring 43 and, as shown best in Fig.

4, there are a pair of recesses 55 and 58 formed in the outside of the cylindrical part of the combined structure. These recesses 55 and 56 are connected to the upper ends of the apertures 53 and. 54 by means of tangential ducts 51 and 58. In order to obtain some measure of adjustment enlargements 32 formed on the quill 28 close the duets 3| except at their lower ends where said ducts 3I communicate with the upper ends of the seated, the lower end 31 of said outer spinner ntting within the said upturned flange 34.

The outer or upper element of the spinner comprises as its principal element an umbrellashaped hood 38 having an `upper conical section 39 and a more or less cylindrical lower end part 48 which is reduced in diameter at its lower end to form the cylindrical flange 31 previously referred to. At its upper end, the conicalsection 39 is extended upwardly in the form of a cylindrical part 4I which, at its upper end adjacent the margin thereof, is perforated with a series of from eight to a dozen holes 42, through which holes the solid material or cheese is projected outwardly by centrifugal force.

To the inside of the cylindrical part 4l of the outer spinner, there is integrally united a relatively thick ring 48 to the lower end of which at the inside edge thereof there is integrally united of the ilow of whey through the exits just described, one of them is provided with a valve, which in the present instance takes the form of a set screw 59,' threaded into a diametric tapped hole extending from the outside of the cylindrical member 42 into the tangential duct 58. By screwing the set screw 59 in or out, the duct 58 can be restricted or enlarged as desired.

In order to separate the ow of whey from the ilow of cheese or curd, the whey is caught in the space between a pair of circular more or less conical upper and lower canopies 60 and 6 l, the upper -edge of the lower canopy 6i being set slightly below the level of the whey openings 56 and 51 while the upper edge of the upper canopy 60 is located between the said openings 5I for the whey and the exit openings 42 for the cheese. 'I'he space between the canopies 50 and 6I is sealed so as to make a single combined hollow structure which is secured to the top of the outer housing or casing H in any suitable manner, and in order to discharge the whey 62 a spout 63 is provided. The flow of the ripened mix as it comes from the pasteurlzer enters a horizontal supply pipe 64 and through a valve 65 nows into the spinner through the inlet pipe 66.

Means are provided to catch the solid cheese or curd as it is ejected from the holes` 42 in the upper end of the spinner. As shown inFig. 1, the

assure scraped from time to time as it accumulates. If desired, the scraping maybe made automatic. For example, the receiver 68 can be supported to rotate upon a stationary track ring 69 with or without a set of anti-friction balls between said ring 69 and flange ring-1I secured to the outside of the receiver 68. 'I'he ringpart 1| of the rotary receiver 68 takes the form of a worm gear having teeth 12 which are,engaged by aworm 13 on a shaft 14 arranged to rotate in bearings on a suitable bracket 15 secured to the stationary ring 69 while the ring 69 in turn is supported on the housing Il by means of brackets 16. Shaft 14 is driven at a suitable speed by a pulley 11, V-pulley 18 and pulley 19 keyed to the shaft I6 previously referred to as being driven by the motor l2, so

that, IWhen the machine is operating, the receiver 68 will be slowly rotated around the vertical axis of the machine.

For the purpose of automatically removing the solid material from the inside of the rotating receiver cylinder 68, I can employ a curved scraper or plow 80 secured to a depending shaft or rod 8| the axis of which is parallel with the shaft of the machine and having its upper end rotatably adjustable in the head 82 of a bracket or standard 83 supported by a fixed part'of the machine frame. Immediately below, but slightly in frontv of the scraper 80, there is provided an opening 84 in the upper canopy 60, said opening leading to a spout 85 through which the material is delivered as itis scraped oil the receiver. A flanged cover plate 86 may be secured to the under side of valve 65 or pipe 66 in order to prevent dissi-- pating of material and to keep the cheese free from contamination and to maintain it at the :Slight temperature while it is undergoing separa- In view of the above explanation; it will not be necessary to describe the operation of the machine in detail. It will be understood, of course, that, as the cream mix flows in through the pipe 66, it will pass through the openings 82 through the three pipes 33 to the bottom of the spinner, whereupon it will be subjected to centrifugal -force resulting from a speed of some Hence the whey will move upwardly through the space and out through the apertures 53 and 54, while the cream solids will move upwardly on the inside of the shield 44 and will pass out through 'the openings 42.

In view of the fact that there will be a considable flow of material and that the cheese is a1- most completely enclosed in a more or less heated medium While it is being separated from the whey, the pasteurized condition of the cheese will be maintained, and there will be little chance for contamination, especially in view of the fact that, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, the cheese (still heated), when it passes out of the delivery spout 85, can be introduced directly into the filling equipment and thence into the shipping packages. 'I'hus there is no opportunity for the cheese to become contaminated with deleterious living l ing cream cheese from a properly ripened liquid" vmix which has sumcient acidity to enable the curd to separate from the whey, which consists in raising the temperature of the mix sufficiently to break the viscosityof the mix, then centrifuging the material so as to separate suillcient.

whey from the solids to reduce the moisture con- 10,000 R. P. M. As a result, the heavier-whey will be forced to the outside of the spinner, while f tent of the cheese to the prescribed legal limit, while substantially maintaining said temperature, and then packaging the cheese.

3. OThe improvement in the art of manufacturprescribed legal limit, and then packaging the cheese.

OSCAR J. LINK. 

